Felicity looked again at the strange faces then back at Mallory, “What...what are they, who are they?”
Mallory extended her hand, “They don’t have names anymore. They’re what happens when all hope is lost.”
Felicity examined the hand stretched out in front of her a moment before accepting it. Then Mallory pulled her away from the miserable masks in the shadows. “This way. They can’t follow us out of Miseria.”
“What’s Miseria?” Felicity wondered aloud.
“It’s where you fell. I come here sometimes because no one else ever does.”
The faces moaned pitifully as the Mallory led, Felicity through a large crack in a stone wall.
On the other side, the skies were still gray, but the faces had not followed them.
“This is the Valley of Miss Fortune. She doesn’t let them come here.”
Felicity shivered clenching Mallory’s hand, “Miss Fortune? Please I need to go home! How do I get there?”
Mallory thought a moment then pulled her hand away, “I don’t even know how you got here. I saw you fall. But I still can’t believe it. I thought Up was make believe.”
“It’s real, I live there and I want to go back! There must be a way!”
Mallory chewed her lip, “Miss Fortune can help you. She knows everything. But…”
Felicity pleaded, “Where is she? Take me to her!”
Mallory shook her head, “No one knows exactly. I mean, she’s everywhere but she’s nowhere.”
Felicity frowned, “That’s ridiculous. How can a person be everywhere and nowhere at the same time?
I thought you said this was her valley?”
“It is her valley. Down and everything in it belongs to her. She rules from Madness Falls to Miseria and every dark place between.”
The girls walked in tandem along a cobbled path beneath unmoving gray clouds. Felicity slowed, uncertainty tugging at her steps. “But how can she rule if no one knows where she is? Has anyone ever seen her?”
Mallory stopped short and turned. “What don’t you understand? Miss Fortune is the wind, the trees, the bats, the fleas. She comes and she goes, but she always knows. She probably already knows you’re here.”
Felicity’s voice thinned with worry. “Then… can she help me?”